Furniture



All@ 15 1939- A. s. WRIGHT 2,169,752

FURNITURE Filed Dec. 10, 1937 j] y y 1 I d ff l @3;

l /z /4/ f 1f /fl a l INVENTOR ATTORNEY.

Patented T15', 1939 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FURNITURE Y AAndrew S.Wright, SpringieldQMass. 'i yApplication December 1o, 1937, seriai No.179,128 f 1 claim. (c1. 211-149) This invention relates to improvementsin furl The base may be formed in several ways but, in niture and isdirected more particularly to animthe form'shown, it consists of a pairof elongated proved table-like device which has vparts adapted parts 6spaced apart and having connectors such to move into and out ofsupporting position. as 8 and I0 extending between their opposite ends.

5 One of the principal objects of the invention The uprights 2 thenextend upwardly from the is the pro-vision of a piece of furniture whichincentral portions of parts 6 and while they are cludes one or morepivoted supporting members preferably secured thereto, they may beremovadapted to move between a horizontal position able for knock-downpurposes as by having their and a relatively vertical position. Thus,when lower ends t into sockets provided in the parts 6.

10' the member is in its horizontal position, the de- One or more panelsor supporting members l2 l0 vice is adapted to function in the samemanner arepivoted between the uprights 2 as by dowels as a table o-rtray-stand while when the supportor pins I4. It Will be noted thatthe'pivots 'I4 ing member is in its other position, the device are notin the exact center of the-ends of the may be used for various otherpurposes, such as panels.

l5 a fire-screen or the like.. That is to say,y the distance between thepins 15" Still another object of the invention is the and the lower sideof each panel is greater than provision of .a piece of furniture whichis decorthe distancebetween the pins and the upper side ative soas to bean asset to the appearance of of the panel. Thus, as will be obvious,vone side a room and which,"at the same time, is simple of each panel(the lower side with reference to in form so as to be economical tomanufacture. Fig. l and the right-hand side with reference 20 It isstill another object of the invention to to Fig. 3) will be more or lessheavier than its provide a device of the class about to be deoppositeside and the reason for this will now be scribed wherein there is asupporting member described.

Which is .arranged to be normally in a vertical What I call a connectormember I6 is hinged,

position but which is piVOted in Such a Way as t0 as at i5, to thepanels I2. Where there are two 25 be capable of being moved to ahorizontal suppanels, as shown, the upper end of the member portingposition, only to automatically assume its IB is hinged at l5 to themarginal edge portion vertical position when released in a manner of thelighter side of the upper panel and an inwhich will appear. termediateportion thereof is hinged to the mar- Various other objects andadvantages of the inginal edge portion of the lighter side of the 30vention will become more apparent after a readlower panel, ing of thefollowing description and reference It will be apparent that the panels2 being, as Will be had to the accompanying draWng.Whe1` stated, heavieron one side than on the other, inwill naturally, if unrestrained, swingon their Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the device pivots to thevertical position shown in Fig. 1. 35 of the invention with supportingmembers in ver- In this vertical position, as I have suggested above,

tical position; the device may be conveniently used as a fire Fig. 2 iSa Similar View Showing the Supporting screen or the like, the panels 2presenting a relamembers in horizontal position; tively unbrokenvertical surface. For this reason,

40 Fig. 3 is an end elevational view showing the I nd it suitable toornament the upper surfaces 40 supporting members in horizontalposition; and of panels 2 as Fig. 1 indicates.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on a large scale to However, as alsosuggested above, the panels explain certain features of construction. 2are adapted to be swung to `and maintained in Referring now to thedrawing more in detail, the horizontal supporting position shown inFigs.

the invention will be fully described. 2 and 3. While in the position,the device may 45 A frame member is provided and while it may be readilymoved from place to place and used as vary in form it preferablyincludes a pair of atable-like device fromwhich to serve such thingsspaced uprights 2 extending upwardly from a as tea, cookies, etc. baseand having a spacer bar 4 connecting them For this reason, it is, ofcourse, necessary to adjacent their upper ends. The material of providesome means for preventing the ol-cen- 50 which these parts are made mayvary but wood tered panels from collapsing to their normal verhas beenfound to be preferable as it is not obtical position. Accordingly, Iprovide a releasable jectionably costly, is light in weight yet suitablyconnection between the panels and the frame rigid, and is readilydecorated, as may be desirmember which is adapted to maintain the panelsable.' 2 horizontal when desired. 55

30% with a foot, hand or the like.

' Accordingly, I provide means whereby the con nector I6 above describedmay releasably engage the frame. Such means may likewise vary in formbut preferably includes a projection or outwardly-extending pin I8 onthe rod 8 and a suitable aperture 20 in the lower end portion of memberI6 for receiving the pin I 8.

The panels 2 are so spaced, the connector I 6 of such length, and thereleasable-engaging means so located that by merely pressing on theheavier side (the right-hand side in Fig. 3) of the panel 2 the same isswung on its pivots I4 to a horizontal position and the connector I6 iscarried outwardly thereby so as to gravitate to a position at rightangles to the panel. In this position the pin IB automatically receivesthe hole 20 as the connector, being made of relatively thin material,

has a somewhat yieldable and free lower end portion, as shown in Fig. 3,and as the said pin IB and hole 20 are so spaced and located relative toone another that they automatically engage each other when the parts areinthe position shown in Fig. 3.

Thus the connector I6 is held in` the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 sothat the panels 2 are releasably maintained in supporting position.

On the other hand, the arrangement is such that whenit is desired tohave the panels assume their normal or vertical position, one may, bymerely urging the member I6 outwardly, as It will be obvious thatv theweighted panels then swing to a vertical position with the connectorfollowing thelm to lie adjacent the bottom of the panels.

It will be seen that the arrangement is' such that when the panels arein vertical position,

the decorated sides of the panels are outermost and the hinged connectoris more or less hidden from view. This makes for an attractive firescreen or the like, while, at the same time, the device may be readilyset up in, or knocked down from a supporting position.

While I have described the invention in great detail and with respect toa preferred form thereof, it is not desired to be limited thereto sincemany changes and modifications may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. What it is desired to claimand secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A fireplace screen comprising in combination, a vertical frame memberhaving a substantially horizontal base, a pair of leaf members withinsaid frame member, pivotal connections between said frame member andopposite ends of said leaf members whereby-said leaf members areswingable between a vertical position and a horizontal position, avertically-disposed connecting member of a certain length having itsupper end portion hinged to the upper one of said leaf members adjacenta side edge thereof and its intermediate portion hinged tothe lower oneof said leaf members adjacent a side edge thereof and its lower endportion extending freely downwardly therefrom, said connecting memberbeing movable with said leaf members between a position substantially inparallelism with and closely adjacent the under surfaces of said leafmembers when the same are in vertical position` and a positionsubstantially at right angles to said leaf members when the same are inhorizontal position, the lower end 'portion of said connecting memberbeing relatively yieldable and said base and the lower end portion beingprovided with engageable parts which are adapted to be urged intoreleasable engagement when said leaf members are swung to horizontalposition.

ANDREW S. WRIGHT.

